THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



^ [April. 



to receive it in a good spirit, even when against 

 what they think is right ; and they are ever ready 

 to give their neighbors the advantage of what they 

 have learned. A lady came to me about a Cactus, 

 which she could never get to flower ; but before 

 she could get a chance to speak to me on the sub- 

 ject, she had been telling another what her trouble 

 was. " I have one, and it blooms every year most 

 profusely," said this lady, "and I will tell you how 

 I treat it : In the fall of the year, when I take in 

 my plants, I put my Cactus up in the garret, where 

 frost cannot reach it, and give it no water, unless 

 it shrivels up very much. In early spring, I take 

 it down and clean it, put it in a sunny window, 

 water it, and very soon I see the flowers starting." 

 I had overheard what was passing, and when she 

 came to me I told her just to' go and do as her 

 'friend had advised her, and, no doubt, the same 

 results would follow. 



There are three principal errors that I have found 

 ladies fall into with their plants ; all connected 

 with watering, and these are, the giving of too much 

 water, too little of it, and watering freely when 

 plants are sick. A healthy plant needs abundance 

 of water, but it must drain away quickly. There 

 are but few plants that will live in health with stag- 

 nant water at their roots. When you see your 

 plants not growing fast, diminish the quantity of 

 water, especially if they show signs of sickness. 

 The reverse is the course generally adopted. Re- 

 member that plants will become exhausted by 

 over-exertion, just as a person will. You must 

 give them a time of rest, or nature will become 

 worn out, and disease will follow. 



Ladies love plants much more than gentlemen 

 do. If you watch a lady and a gentleman go 

 through a collection of plants, you will observe the 

 lady to be the more inquiring of the two. She ad- 

 mires and smells the flowers and asks many 

 questions as she moves along. But the gentleman 

 passes along, casting only a partial glance, asking 

 but few questions, unless he happens to have stud- 

 ied their culture, or in some way has made himself 

 familiar with them. I have often told ladies, when 

 I saw this occur, that if they want time to examine 

 plants they had better leave the gentlemen at home, 

 for they, as a general thing, will not give them 

 time to do so. 



It has always seemed to me that ladies were 

 naturally better adapted than men to care for the 

 more beautiful portions of nature's work. Some 

 time ago I was shown a floral wreath, for which I 

 had given the flowers. It was made by a young 

 lady to decorate the remains of a departed school 



mate. Her hand was untutored to such work, yet, 

 I must say, there was a natural beauty and deh. 

 cacy in its arrangement that the rougher hand of 

 man could hardly give ; points of excellence were 

 there that more expert and practical hands often 

 fail to reach. 



There is a saying, " Show me a person that 

 loves flowers and I will show you one that has a 

 warm heart gushing forth joy and pleasure to all 

 around. It may be hid under a rough exterior but 

 like the flinty rock when broken open has gems 

 within that sparkle and dazzle the eyes." I wonder 

 if it is true ! I think it is, though, perhaps, the rock 

 is not always struck hard enough to show its 

 treasures. Supt. Gov't Grounds, Canada. 



BULB COLLECTING. 



BY J. H. KRELAAGE. 



In your paper of February (pages 61-62) you 

 give a very interesting correspondence about pro- 

 fits of plant and seed collecting; and although I 

 agree totally with your reply, as the principal ob- 

 ject of the correspondence is a bulbous plant, I 

 thought it might be of some use to give my opinion 

 on bulb collecting, especially as there are made 

 many mistakes in that way. My firm has im- 

 ported from foreign correspondents or collectors 

 bulbs for more than half a century, and by experi- 

 ence 1 can state there is a great difference as to the 

 value of such importations. 



As a general rule (there are exceptions without 

 doubt) it may be said that the value of bulbs col- 

 lected in a wild state is inferior to that of those 

 which have been cultivated already, and when 

 cultivated it depends upon how this has been 

 done. As for example for Narcissus, the way we 

 cultivate them here in Holland in a soil perfectly 

 adapted for this speciality, preparing the ground 

 with much care, and taking up bulbs every year 

 and rfeplanting them as soon as possible, we get 

 the finest and largest bulbs lor the trade there ex- 

 ists, and such as usually are not supplied any- 

 where else so fine. Amateurs like to have their 

 Narcissus in the same spot for more than one year 

 to enjoy a finer flowering, and they are quite right. 

 But when such plants are taken up after some 

 years the bulbs are, if not all, at least for the 

 greater part, misformcd, and although very easy 

 to multiply, totally unfit for a first-rate trade 

 for other purposes. If Narcissus are taken up 

 from the field or wilderness there is another incon- 

 venience besides ; one never is certain if these 

 will come to bloom the first year, as generally 



